CRITIC’S PICK "Reflections That Sear in a Reborn ‘Fires in the Mirror’: The Signature Theater revival of Anna Deavere Smith’s drama about the Crown Heights race riots confirms this play’s status as an enduring work of art."
Read more
4/5 Stars "A theatrical time capsule that feels eerily timely...An appropriately fiery revival...While Washington doesn’t possess Smith’s uncanny abilities as a mimic, he imbues each person with specificity, authenticity and soul...A stirring account of an urgent work of art."
Read more
"Fires in the Mirror Exposes Segregated New York City: Anna Deavere Smith's theatrical documentary returns nearly three decades after the original incidents that inspired it."
Read more
"[Washington] is an accomplished mimic…but he digs deeper, finding something of each person's essence, in a coolly appraising look, a conspiratorial smile, or a fierce burst of anger. His is not a showy, distracting display of technique, but a diligent excavation of souls."
Read more
"As evident by the Signature Theatre's current production starring Michael Benjamin Washington, the play offers an ominously accurate reflection of the troubled times in which we now live."
Read more
5/5 Stars "A Hot-Button Show Whose Glow Hasn't Dimmed: Anna Deavere Smith's one-person play still burns bright with star Michael Benjamin Washington and a timely-as-ever theme"
Read more
"While the production is well executed… it presents dialogue as an end in itself and offers no connection between the real disparities affecting the neighborhood's Black and Jewish residents…Still, it is both evocative and compelling, thanks in large part to Michael Benjamin Washington."
Read more
"The piece is well produced, delivering the detailed goods with grace and determination, but not much emotionality. Washington doesn't hold the stage with the transformative weight of Smith, but that's a tall order, as she is at the heart of this emotional undertaking."
Read more